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Arts & Communication Reflections on the issues of the Journal of the History of Collections

the middle and lower classes are no longer confronted due to the Second Industrial Revolution and the booming
with survival challenges. Driven by spiritual needs and US economy. Assisted by professionals, their second and
consumerism, grassroot collectors have begun to emerge. even third generation heirs/heiresses have established
The research results presented by the Journal of the monolithic systems of collections. At the same time, the
History of Collections demonstrate that the bourgeoisie, emergence of modern art has enabled these families to
rather than the ruling class, is socially represented as the make a considerable number of purchases at economical
so-called “big collectors.” In other words, collections used prices. There are numerous articles in the Journal of the
to be monopolized by a few elites, and then competed by History of Collections discussing how experts in museums
many people; now, they are part of cultural consumption or museologists influence big collectors and gradually
accessible to the public. Once, cultural products were transform their original collection systems. These
exclusive to the ruling class; however, artworks have been collectors no longer conform to European ideals of art;
transformed into spiritual resources that can be shared with instead, they have accepted modern art. Needless to say,
the populace through the hands of private collectors. It is the establishment of collection systems owned by model
also worth noting that although some collectors are willing collectors corresponds to their desire to gain recognition
to share their collections as public spiritual resources, and promotion for their tastes.
they, as self-proclaimed intellectual elitists, equate their Finally, shifts in collection categories are indirect
own preferences with the judgment of esthetic standards. results of the aforementioned changes. At its official
Taste is represented by collection categories, such as books, website, Sotheby’s provides the latest categorization of
manuscript, furniture, easel painting, and modern art. collectibles, which classifies jewelry, handbags, and shoes
Taste standards are determined not only by artists and as emerging collection categories. In particular, digital
art dealers, but also by collectors who exert considerable collections have become a part of collectors’ collection
influence. Noticeably, the discursive power of collectors on systems in view of technological advances. Therefore, in
the esthetic standards of modern art is realized through the the context of art scholarship, there are diverse collection
expansion of the art market. categories available for research. The Journal of the History
From the end of the 19 century to the first half of the of Collections has published papers on coins, Greek vases,
th
20 century, collectors from the United States gradually skulls, musical instruments, and other collections that
th
took over the art market from their European counterparts. were disregarded before, even after 2000. Driven by my
In this phase, collectors made significant contributions own academic exploration, I have created a database of
to the surge in art transactions, and the prosperity of the well-known American modern collectors and performed
modern art market in turn promoted the updating of big data analysis and computation. My findings reveal that
collection systems for collectors. Based on the information recent and modern collecting activities feature not only
collected by Artprice, artworks created by post-war artists traditional categories, such as works of art by established
dominate the art market in terms of price and auction artists, impressionist art, modern and contemporary art,
volume. One reason is that there are only few antiques sketches, watercolors, manuscripts, Chinese and Mexican
available in the modern art market. Works by established antiques, and the like, but also new ones, such as music,
masters with good quality and clear circulation records are coins, philately, dolls, celebrity items, photography, and so
often auctioned at a premium. Another reason is that it on. It is appreciable that collection interests change over
takes less time for modern artists to create a larger number time.
of artworks, thus guaranteeing an abundant supply for the
growing market. The third reason is that some modernist 4. Taking issue with current collection
works have been recognized and collected by mainstream history studies and posing new research
museums, thus endorsing their artistic value. angles
Post-war and contemporary artworks, especially high- At present, the research scope of collection history studies,
profile art pieces at auction, have enjoyed a relentless rise in as a specialized field of research, has extended beyond art
popularity that rides on intense media coverage. The high history studies, adding a new perspective on the enrichment
return on investment in leading artworks has attracted of history writing. This is mainly due to the academia’s
public attention, rendering works of art a new type of deeper understanding of the word “collect,” which carries
high-quality assets. For example, families renowned for multiple meanings, such as gathering, sorting-out, picking,
collecting in modern times, represented by the Rockefeller and keeping things as a hobby. In the past, researchers
family, the Guggenheim family, the Lehman family, and the placed a premium on “the act of collecting/accumulating
Whitney family, have accumulated insurmountable wealth something as one’s own possessions” despite the fact that

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.359